Mediavest Director Dave Griffin was speaking after the launch of a new survey on the impact of public sector advertising.

The survey found that 65 per cent of people (67 per cent of women and 63 per cent of men) said that they have changed their behaviour due to public sector advertising campaigns.

In terms of which specific behaviours had changed - 50 per cent said they had stopped using their mobile phone in the car, 49 per cent had stopped speeding, 38 per cent have started to eat more healthily and 20 per cent had stopped smoking.

The research was carried out independently, on a standardised national population sample, by Ignite Research.

Mr. Griffin said that the findings mirrored earlier research by IPSOS MRBI in 2011 which in addition had highlighted the particularly high impact of local papers and regional radio stations for advertising goods, services or information with specific local relevance.

'From our current experience with local papers, and looking at the recent JNLR figures, the strong role of local media in advertising in Ireland remains the case.

'A mix of placing public information campaigns in both national and local media is generally optimal. If campaign content has specific local information, it is often most effective to concentrate the media spend on local papers and radio.

'The strength of local media is a particular feature of the Republic of Ireland marketplace and, despite the years of recession and growth of online communications, local media remains of key importance for influencing public opinion and attitudes.'

In terms of preferred issues which respondents said Government should communicate through public advertising - 61 per cent supported campaigns on drug abuse, 60 per cent healthy eating, 60 per cent safe driving and 58 per cent social welfare fraud.

Mr. Griffin added that the research provides useful insight into how the public perceives and responds to Government public information advertising.

'Overall people do perceive public sector advertising as effective at driving changes in their behaviour, particularly when it relates to core social issues such as public safety and health.'